Quo vadis? Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine - preserving the humanistic character of medicine in a biotechnological future

Over the past fifty years, the palette, depth and breadth of scientific discovery has advanced at amazing speed, and given the relevance of Moore's Law to applications of biocomputational capability, will likely continue, if not increase in pace. Yet, if we are to consider the information gained as more than merely knowledge for its own sake, then such knowledge must be regarded in terms of its potential uses and misuses in serving and affecting the human condition. I believe that this is especially true in medicine, what Edmund Pellegrino has called "...the most humanistic of the sciences, and most scientific of the humanities".